| The Intimate Stranger: Meetings with the Devil in Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature Contributor(s): Beyer Jr, Thomas R. (Editor), Connolly, Julian W. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0820455164 ISBN-13: 9780820455167 Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi OUR PRICE: $106.31 Product Type: Hardcover Published: July 2001 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Russian & Former Soviet Union - Religion | Christianity - Literature & The Arts |
| Dewey: 891.709 |
| LCCN: 00067153 |
| Series: Literature and the Visual Arts |
| Physical Information: 308 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Russia - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Intimate Stranger provides the first detailed investigation of a distinctive literary phenomenon: a fascination with demons and devils in nineteenth-century Russian literature. Nearly all of the major authors of the period - Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy - used images of devils to explore issues of human temptation, sin, and guilt in a troubled world. Asking fundamental questions - where does evil come from? when does it appear in characters' lives? - these writers created a remarkable array of demonic figures, ranging from grotesque demons to handsome nihilists. This book discusses the various literary, religious, and folkloric factors that influenced the representation of the demonic, and it investigates the profound, soul-shattering effects that a personal encounter with the demonic may have on an individual's life. |